Well, I survived my "Sisters" Smoky Mountain vacation without gaining any weight!!!  I picked up the pace last Wednesday and managed to get in quite a bit of exercise in on some days, especially this past weekend.  It's a really good thing too because although I rarely imbibe it was REALLY hard to resist the iced, fruity "hot tub punch" concoctions my sisters would make each evening before we went to the pool. They were actually quite tasty.  Other than those (and the two Frisch's Big Boy stops on the way down and back) I did keep my diet relatively healthy most days. Zip lining was so much fun we went again with a couple other sisters on Saturday.  I was the first one in line when we came time to try zipping hanging upside down!  Guess I was a "pro" by then. It was so exhilarating flying through the air over and through the forests and fields.  With a dozen zip lines under my belts (pun intended) my 11yo grandson and I are planning to go on a zip line trip for his birthday the end of next month in southern Ohio. Sunday was sad because the adventure was over for most of us.  Fortunately my sister Sherry was up for more thrills as we explored more of the National Park. Clingman's Dome was a real hike up a steep hill.  As I passed some younger who gave up the climb, it gave me added motivation to make it to the top of the trail and then the tower. I have a really big stubborn streak and I wasn't about to let the heat and the hill win! Since I have found my self confidence once again I wasn't quite ready to quit when it came time for my sister to leave. There were still more waterfalls I was determined to explore. I hiked a trail near Sugarland and then to the nearby falls.  I was determined to go to Grotto Falls. Between the 2 trails it takes to get there the hike is about 3 miles and took a good 3 hours there and back.  The trail is through an "old growth" forest and the creeks, large rocks, massive tree roots and damp and slippery paths made it a real challenge.  DEFINITELY worth it though.  Driving the one way, winding road back down I even saw a baby black bear sitting on a log (lets hear an awwwww). Without this challenge I wouldn't have been able to do the things I did on this trip.  My activity monitor with the altimeter for Sunday logged 22,205 steps, 9.12 miles and the equivalent of 103 FLIGHTS climbed.  I burned off 2723 calories!  I wouldn't have been able to do a fraction of that the end of January.  I have so much more energy than I had when I started. I am healthier and I FEEL healthier and happier.  I've found my love of adventure again (probably to my husbands dismay).  I still CRINGE when I see my photograph but that will get better as time goes on.  It took a while to put on this weight and it will take time to get it back off if I do it the healthy way.  We're going to do this sister getaway every year now.  We're thinking about Kentucky and camping and horseback riding. I have the energy and the motivation to learn to ride now and my daughter's got the horse!  Maybe I can talk my sisters into some some spelunking too! Since my sisters check my blog I want to thank them and my "new" sisters too.  Thanks especially to Joni for coming up with the idea and the condo. "What we have once enjoyed we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us."~Helen Keller